Woodstock High DB David Daniel will be back at Georgia today to watch practice.
It will be his second unofficial visit of the year. He picked up his offer from UGA, along with many others, during a stretch where he picked a parade of big-time offers in the middle of January.
Alabama and Notre Dame have since offered. Daniel will also be at Clemson on Monday.
He runs track and is a triple jumper. The 6-foot-2 and 185-pound rising junior is a South Florida native and size does run in his family. Especially on his mother’s side. All of the men in his immediate family and circle are all well over the 6-foot-2 mark.
It stands to reason that this 2021 prospect is still growing.
Here’s the hurry-up on Daniel:
- He’s the first elite SEC recruit at Woodstock High since 2005. That was Georgia signee Tripp Chandler.
- Daniel brings his pads to every stop. His Woodstock coaches can already tell by the unique sound that it is him.
- The 2021 recruit had a pair of Pick-6 interceptions last fall, including one in his first varsity start.
- He would be the first college graduate in his family with all these offers. Thinking of majoring in sports medicine.
- Carries a grade-point average of 3.6
- Reps all over at camps and showcases but his preference is at safety.
- His first offers were from Duke and LSU. The reputation of defensive backs at LSU says one thing about his ability, but the mental acumen expected out of Duke players says another. That’s a good way to size up Daniel. This student-athlete can walk in both circles.
- DawgNation shared a few more snippets of his story earlier this year when all those big offers started to drop
How does David Daniel feel about UGA?
Daniel has a fairly simple view of his college choice. It is basically the following:
- Strong educational opportunity
- Connection to the coaching staff
- A staff that will build a strong relationship with his family
New defensive backs coach Charlton Warren has already been out to his school.
“He is really down to earth, cool, and easy to talk to,” Daniel told DawgNation. “That was the same to pretty much everyone we talked to. Coach [James] Coley is from the same Miami area my mom is from.”
Another member of the UGA support staff played in the same youth football league that Daniel did growing up. His mother and father and both of his sisters made that trip. His father is very big into sports and he’s a known Miami Hurricanes fan.
The previous trip to UGA for a “Junior Day” went well.
“I didn’t know what to expect since this was my first junior day,” Daniel said. “I [had] been to other visits for games and this was completely different. Just to be able to speak to the staff and to have my family get to ask questions about the school [was different.] We even got a chance to tour the dorms so I loved it.”
The big takeaway from that previous trip was focused on academics. He made that clear when asked to describe what was the biggest thing he learned on his previous visit.
“The expectations on the academic side and how much they support and work with all new incoming athletes to help with the transition into college,” Daniel told DawgNation. “The staff definitely spoke about that a lot.”
The Daniel family left UGA after that trip with very few questions.
“They did a really good job on hitting the points of interest for academics and the football team,” Daniel said.
That was the same view his father shared.
“Oh, UGA was really amazing,” Rocky Sisavanh told DawgNation. “They had a great recruiting staff and coaches. I can see why they are consistently one of the top programs in the nation. They made mom happy, for sure.”
His father was also able to educate him on the history of the defensive back position at UGA. He brought up both Champ Bailey and Bacarri Rambo.
“My dad told me about Champ and Rambo so to be in a locker room with so much history and great players,” Daniel said. “I was just honored that I have the opportunity not many other people have. It felt good to suit up in that black and red.”
The sophomore film for Daniel appears below. It was his first season of varsity football. The early clip of the blocked punt he turns into a scoop-and-score for his Wolverines is an offer-catching clip.
When he shows he can make agility plays like that at his size and length, it attracts attention.
